Press Release

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL AND MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS TRUST JOIN FORCES TO ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERISM

Service-Learning Program Incorporates Education about Real-World Issues into Core Curriculum and Gives Students the Opportunity to Make a Difference

MLBPA Press Release

NEW YORK (Feb. 21, 2007)  The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition, an award-winning monthly publication and Web site for high school students, has partnered with the Major League Baseball Players Trust (MLBPT) to support its landmark Action Team community service program for high school students.

This dynamic program Pitch In, Help Out, Volunteer! is a service-learning initiative of Major League baseball players to enhance the traditional high-school curriculum by focusing on key issues that challenge society and motivate students to get involved and volunteer in their communities.

The program features special sections in The Classroom Edition with reprinted articles from The Wall Street Journal on key societal issues like child poverty and post-Katrina rebuilding. These sections showcase examples of how teens and Major League players have volunteered to combat these problems, and how student-readers can do the same in their local areas. An accompanying service-learning feature in the Classroom Edition Teacher Guide helps teachers incorporate this content into their curriculum through thoughtful discussions and skill-building activities.

The Players Trust puts a large emphasis on community outreach programs that are committed to helping our society, said Mark Loretta, Trustee of the Players Trust and Houston Astros infielder. By partnering with The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition, we are able to reach more students than ever before and get them actively involved in their communities.

Major Leaguers worked with Volunteers of America to create the Action Team youth volunteer program, which inspires and trains the next generation of community volunteers, added Tony Clark, Trustee of the Players Trust and Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman. The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition takes the Action Team into high school classrooms across the United States, delivering an important message to students: If we care, act, and inspire  we can change the world.

The underwriter of this outreach effort is the Players Trust, a charitable foundation formed by Major League baseball players in 1996, that donates more than $1 million annually and initiates broad-based programs such as the above mentioned Action Team. Through the Action Team, high school students engage in volunteer activities and spread the players message about the importance of community service to other teens in their areas.